PMI Plant Switches to Smoke-Free Products

Papastratos, a Philip Morris International (PMI) subsidiary since 2003, no longer manufactures cigarettes but instead makes tobacco sticks used in PMI’s iQOS device, which heats tobacco instead of burning it.

This first full conversion of a cigarette factory is a landmark step in PMI’s vision of a smoke-free future where people who smoke switch from the most harmful form of nicotine consumption – cigarettes – to scientifically substantiated smoke-free alternatives.

A €300 million investment included the construction of three new buildings and the replacement of cigarette production lines with high-tech facilities capable of producing 10,000 smoke-free tobacco units per minute. The conversion of the factory started in August 2017. The facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2018 and will create 400 new jobs.

André Calantzopoulos, PMI c.e.o., said, “This is a historic day for our company. Papastratos is the first of our factories to end cigarette production and fully shift to manufacturing our smoke-free alternatives.” He added, “We will continue to convert existing sites and invest in new facilities to answer global adult smoker demand for better alternatives to cigarettes. We made a commitment to provide all people who would otherwise continue smoking with potentially less harmful products. The momentum around this revolutionary change for the benefit of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers, public health, and society at large is growing, and we will continue working towards a smoke-free future.”

PMI has also announced plans to either fully or partially transform our cigarette factories in Korea, Romania, and Russia.